I love that quote. Today it's crystal for those diplomatic gift-giving occasions, but back in the day it was weapons.

Why did they ever switch? Is there anyone who wouldn't rather get a Skorpion submachine gun than some fancy glasses?

The story continues:

Ambassador Jamal died in a blast of a safe deposit in the Palestinian embassy building in Prague-Suchdol on Jan. 1.

Czech investigators believe that Jamal was fatally injured by a bomb that he wanted to use to secure the safe. The investigation is still underway, however.

"According to police investigators, 200 grams of a yet unknown explosive exploded. The blast was very strong. Even if Jamal survived it, he would have lost both hands," said a source acquainted with a police report on the case.

The Palestinian diplomats were moving to a new seat. It appears that Jamal wanted to check the safe and secure it against opening, a source told LN.

A Czech diplomat requesting anonymity told the paper that the Foreign Ministry does not focus on the technical details anymore. "We are now primarily interested in how are the Palestinians going to solve the whole case administratively, for example, whether there will be an apology," the diplomat said.

The Palestinians no doubt owe an apology to their host country's government. However, doesn't the Czech government owe all of us an apology for having equipped terrorist groups - the PLO for one, but also many others - back in the 1980s?

20 comments:

Anonymous
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TSB: finally some declassified testimony about Benghazi. My question is who decided not to do anything in response to the attack?This gives me the impression everyone was just covering their backsides. (or like with healthcaremaybe nobody was in charge?) gwb

James: I don't doubt the Czech police, and they seem satisfied it was an accidental explosion. Also, his wife was a witness (she reported she had left the room just a few seconds before the explosion). The 'how' and 'why' of it still haven't been made clear, but then, I don't think we'll get cooperation from the Palestinians, who are probably the only ones who could tell us.

GWB: The DEA-cartel connection is potentially a real big deal if the DEA really allowed as much product to flow north as is being reported. I hope there is more investigation coming on that, and preferably from a special council.

TSB: I doubt if we will even see this story in the USA media. It's the banksters. As the article says, (laundering)drug money helped keep the banks afloat during the 2008 financial hiccup and ever since as well. I think DEA has always been taking orders from headquarters. gwb

" I don't doubt the Czech police, and they seem satisfied it was an accidental explosion" I'd probably go with that explanation, but some things do nag at me. 200 grams is too big for the grenades I know about and too small for most other ordinance. And how did they come up with the number 200, guesstimate? There could be a lot of evidence of an accident that I haven't seen. Besides if he was whacked it was more than likely another Palestinian faction that did it.

James: The Czech police have medical and forensic reports that would tell them a lot more about the bomb than we get from the press, although the 200 gram figure is likely just a guesstimate. It's almost the same weight as the explosive filler in a typical (e.g., M-67) grenade. But, it could also have been a larger charge that was old and had degraded over the years. The Palestinines aren't talking about that, so we may never find out exactly what it was that exploded.

TSB: Watching Marcy Kaptur on C-Span about the spending bill. She says she's open to looking at evidence that Trade Center 7 was brought down by a controlled implosion. The caller says we spent $20 million on the study that showed it was from the planes. Kaptur says: "The truth will out". I doubt it because once you establish who placed the explosives and why the whole USG loses all credibility about 9/11. Also, you should have seen the congeniality yesterday between DiFiand a 30 yr DEA guy who was brought to tears over the need to keep up the war on drugs. (no mention of Chapo) gwb

GWB: I'm watching the POTUS presser today, and I trust that he has fully dispelled any and all concerns you may have had about NSA. For myself, I could not be more satisfied if I heard all that soothing talk from NSA Director Clapper himself.

TSB: Thank God Obama has decided to fix the NSA with a 5,469 word speech.

Sadly, since the words "constitution" and "freedom" were only mentioned 4 and 2 times respectively, they did not make their way into the cloud of most frequently uttered words. Now we can all sleep soundly knowing nothing will change. gwblol

" I trust that he has fully dispelled any and all concerns you may have had about NSA." My relief is monumental, hear that guys, monumental! That should register quite well in a digital format for future reference by a strictly unbiased perusal.

TSB: Since you listened and I didn't..did he really say that he didn't know about what NSA had been doing until Snowden? If that is true it sounds to me that he plans to continue not to know what they are doing which makes them the boss? 89% of the public say NSA has too much power. I guess Obama is with the 1, I mean the 11%. gwb

I have to admit I didn't listen to most of it. Bottom line summary: we will stop doing what I previously said we were not doing, and no longer will NSA hold telephone metadata (instead, one of its contractors will do that for them), and we will no longer spy on allies or U.S. citizens - unless we have a compelling national security need, of course.

He did not amnesty Snowden, unless that happened while I was distracted and not paying attention.

They and Snowden have been negotiating through the media. The latest a fairly naked threat (see news reports of anon intel people wishing they could shoot Snowden). My guess is Snowden has stuff that is linkable to names and would really be damaging, but has been holding back on releasing for some reason, probably thinks it's his insurance policy, if so he's a fool.

Hey James! I never hear of Hitler's financial guy (or Ben Bernanke if you like) but the guy had a great fascist plan you may recognize. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-01-17/guest-post-hitler%E2%80%99s-economics-why-you-should-know-thing-or-two-about-them

I know you guys are busy so here is my favorite slice of this: What is Fascism?

Lew Rockwell has the answer:

Fascism is the system of government that cartelizes the private sector, centrally plans the economy to subsidize producers, exalts the police state as the source of order, denies fundamental rights and liberties to individuals, and makes the executive state the unlimited master of society.

James: C'mon over! The door is usually not locked and that doorbell quit working14 years ago. Little George "W" won't even wake up unless you bring a dog with you.

It looks like tough times for the foreign elites of Kabul? They will all need to hire chefs and party at home from now on. gwbhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/18/british-mep-bodyguard-among-dead-kabul-restaurant-suicide-attack PS: Broncos and Seahawks win today... 5 pesos!

GWB: if I wasn't busy with something else this weekend, I would have already done a post about that Kabul attack. I may do it Monday. I have to respect the superior strategy of the Taliban and the tactical perfection of that attack. It was the most effective thing they could have done at this point to advance their aims, and they executed it with no unintentional casualties that might have spoiled the political message.

They are the rising force there, and ISAF / NATO has one foot out the door already.

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In the words of Dr. Evil, "the details of my life are quite inconsequential." However, I will say that I work in a small branch office of the foreign affairs department of the Washington DC area's largest employer.

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